James Cameron wants to reinvent the Terminator franchise with a new trilogy

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It's probably safe to say that the TERMINATOR franchise hasn't been in great shape since James Cameron departed after TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY, which made the news that Cameron would be returning to the franchise all the more exciting. The AVATAR director will be regaining certain rights to THE TERMINATOR in 2019, and will be "godfathering a new iteration of the film that might finally get it right in drawing a close in the battle between humans and Skynet." As Cameron will be busy with the many AVATAR sequels over the next several years, he also began speaking with Tim Miller (DEADPOOL) about directing a "reboot and conclusion" to the franchise.

In an interview with News Australia, Cameron stated that he's currently in negotiations to oversee a new TERMINATOR trilogy which will serve to reinvent the series, that is, if the issues with the rights to the franchise can be resolved.

The question is — has the franchise run its course or can it be freshened up?. Can it still have relevance now where so much of our world is catching up to what was science fiction in the first two films. We live in a world of predator drones and surveillance and big data and emergent AI (artificial intelligence). So I am in discussions with David Ellison, who is the current rights holder globally for the Terminator franchise and the rights in the US market revert to me under US copyright law in a year and a half so he and I are talking about what we can do. Right now we are leaning toward doing a three-film arc and reinventing it. We’ll put more meat on the bones if we get past the next couple of hurdles as and when we announce that.

As for the TERMINATOR sequels which were produced after James Cameron left the franchise behind, TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES, TERMINATOR: SALVATION, and TERMINATOR: GENISYS, Cameron mentions that he's kept his criticisms to himself out of his respect for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I think it’s fairly widely known that I don’t have a lot of respect for the films that were made later. I was supportive at the time in each case for Arnold’s sake because he is a close friend. He has been a mate of mine since 33 years ago so I was always supportive and never too negative. But they didn’t work for me for various reasons.

As for whether Arnold Schwarzenegger will be a part of this potential trilogy, James Cameron said that he would be involved "to some extent" but that the plan is to introduce a new group of characters in order to "pass the baton." Although Cameron said that he was merely being supportive of his long-time friend, telling fans that they would "love" TERMINATOR: GENISYS and calling it a reinvigoration of the franchise strikes me as more than just simple support. Here's hoping that James Cameron still has it in him to put the TERMINATOR franchise back on track.

Are you up for a new TERMINATOR trilogy overseen by James Cameron or should they just leave the franchise alone?